Stephanie Erickson

Stephanie Erickson serves as a Chemistry Integrated Learning Instructor at the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), bringing over 20 years of K-12 teaching experience from St. Paul's North End neighborhood to her current advocacy-focused role with the TRIO program.

Education Background

• Bachelor of Science in Geology, University of Minnesota
• PhD Candidate in Curriculum and Instruction (STEM Education), University of Minnesota

Her professional focus centers on dismantling systemic barriers in 6-12 science and engineering education through intersectional approaches blending environmental stewardship and social justice. She develops experiential learning frameworks that prioritize marginalized students' voices while connecting classroom content to wilderness experiences and community contexts. Her methodology emphasizes place-based pedagogy where canoeing trips and urban ecology projects become vehicles for scientific inquiry and critical consciousness development.

As a TRIO Integrated Learning Instructor, Erickson provides intensive academic coaching while mentoring future educators through her doctoral research on equity-centered STEM curriculum design. She operationalizes her philosophy that effective science education must address both cognitive development and systemic inequities, frequently incorporating outdoor experiential learning through hiking and wilderness travel into educational practice.